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Leaked photos is not a topic for what you think is humor

The ignorance of the Register's Daniel Finney and his column (Sept. 9) "Some Iowans' Leaked Info (in Our Dreams)" and the failed attempt at humor need to be a wake-up call for the Register and for Iowans.

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OPINION

Leaked photos is not a topic for what you think is humor

The ignorance of the Register's Daniel Finney and his column (Sept. 9) "Some Iowans' Leaked Info (in Our Dreams)" and the failed attempt at humor need to be a wake-up call for the Register and for Iowans.

Let's start with this premise: If you truly believe that something is "sad, degrading and cruel," you don't joke about it.

Would the Register run a column that used Baltimore Raven Ray Rice's brutal assault against a woman as a starting point for snarky political commentary? I would hope not.

So why would it be acceptable to do this with the leaked photos? Because some in the public, including the Register, fail to see the story of the leaked photos for what it is — a brutal assault against women.

Call it a crime that could result in years in federal prison. Call it an invasion of privacy and a violation of a woman's core sense of security. Call the hacking, the release of the photos and the public's appetite for the images what it is — abuse against women.

Perhaps this form of abuse is less obvious than a punch to the head caught on an elevator camera, but it is no less damaging.

The hacking of the photos is an attack on the dignity of women. It sends the message that women's bodies are for public consumption and that women have somehow forfeited control. The hacking is an attempt to put powerful and successful women in their place by saying loud and clear that their bodies do not belong to them and at any moment their images can be used to publicly shame them.

The public needs to hold all those who abuse women — and all those who perpetuate the abuse of women through ignorance or inaction — accountable for their behavior.